Clock.



L. D. GIDDENS. CLOCK.

vAPPLIOATIOH FILED SEPT. 8, 1913.

l, 1 04,043. Patented July 21, 1914.

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LEWIS D. GIDDENS, OF WLSON, NORTH CAROLINA.

CLOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 21, 1914.

Application led September 8, 1913. Serial No. 788,664.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that l, Lnwis D. GIDDENS, a citizen of the United Sta-tes, residing at Wilson, in the county kof Wilson and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Tmprovements in Clocks, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in clocks, and has particular reference to a signal clock provided with an improved form of alarm mechanism therefor adapted to sound at the terminal of a certain period of time and automatically re-set itself to sound when said period has again elapsed, the invention being further designed as an improvement upon the clock covered by Letters Patents No. 990,809 and dated April 25, 1911, and No. 1,061,741, dated May 1e, 191s, granted to me, and to which for a full and clear understanding of the general construction, advantages and operation of my improvements I invite attention.

The leading object of my invention is the provision of a mechanism of the character described and for the purpose stated which will comprise few working parts to insure reliability of operation and little risk of the mechanism getting out of order and which will dispense entirely with springs for operating certain of the parts thereby preventing breakage of parts of the mechanism.

Another obj ect of my invention is the provision of an improved signal mechanism for clocks, which mechanism is especially adapted for use in mills where cotton seed is boiled to extract the oil,my device providing an alarm mechanism which can'be set to warn workmen at the termination of the period of time which the seed should remain in the vat and thus permit said workmen to occupy themselves with other work instead of it being necessary for them to remain by the vat due to the lack of suitable alarm mechanism which will give warning at the termination of a certain number of minutes.

The further object of my invention is the provision of an alarm mechanism which can be set to give a signal at the end of a desired number of minutes and which will be automatically released after giving said signal and will re-set itself to repeat the alarm when saidnumber of minutes have again elapsed. v Y

To attain the desired objects, my invention comprises a ratchet wheel secured on the rear end of the shaft bearing the minute hand of the clock and rotating therewith, and a pawl adapted to be engaged by the ratchet wheel and carried around thereby, an abutment for engaging'v and releasing the pawl, an electric current associated with the clock and containing an alarm actuated when lthe pawl engages the abutment, and means for preventing the alarm mechanism from being sounded when desired, the invention further residing in the novel features of construction and combination and arrangement of parts for service, substantially as described and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the completey invention. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of a clock equipped with my improvements and illustrating particularly the alarm mechanism. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 9.-2 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of the clamping collar for the index lever, and Fig. 5 is a detail view of the oscillating pawl and the weight used to hold the pawl in engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel.

Tn the drawings, in which similar characters of reference are employed to designate corresponding parts in the several views, the numeral 1, denotes the clock having the face 2, provided with the customary designations for indicating the time and having the minute hand 3 mounted on the arbor or shaft 4-., andthe hour hand 5. The shaft A, has the threaded reduced port-ion or extension 6, and around the shaft is placed the ring or collar 7 which is provided with recesses 7a adapted to receive screws 8,which pass through suitable openings in the clock casing so as to secure the collar in place.

The numeral 9, designates an arm secured under the collar as best shown in Fig. 3, and formed with the pointer 10', projecting unto the face of the clock and having an abutment 11, for engaging the pawl or dog 27, hereinafter described. A ratchet wheel 12, is secured upon the collar 13, mounted on the extension 6, which is provided with a screw nut 14, spaced between which and the ratchet wheel is the loosely mounted trip lever 15, formed with the vertical extension 16, terminating in the cam shaped abutment port-ion 17, and having a lateral extension 18, over which passes one end of the tripper rod 19, retained in place by the screw 20, the

other end of the tripper rod is secured by the screw 21, upon the arm 22, of the spider shaped frame 23, which is pivoted upon the shaft 23a said shaft being secured to the back of the clock, the frame 23 is also provided with the arm 24, carrying the weight 24a the frame is alsoprovided with the lever 24b which is bent at right angles and passes through the slot 1EL and has secured to the end thereof a knob 25.

Pivotally secured to the extension 6, is the plate 26, and pivotally mounted upon this plate is the pawl 28, having a pin or stud 29 which is adapted to engage the teeth of the ratchet wheel 12, the pawl is also provided with the extended arm 30, the purpose of which will be seen later. The plate 26, is also provided with the weight 31, which is pivoted at 32, said weight being kdisposed to bear against the extended arm 30, of the pawl 28. A pair of abutment pins 33, are also arranged in the plate so as to limit the movement of the pawl and weight. The plate 26, is further provided with the Eprojecting portion 34, to which is connected a wire 35, said wire passing through the binding screw 36, and being grounded in an alarm device 36 a battery 37, being connected with the alarm device and having a wire 3S, passing through the binding screw 39, and terminating in the Contact plate 40, which is mounted in the clock.

The operation of my device will be readily understood by reference to Fig. 2, from which it will be seen that the ratchet wheel rotates on movement of the minute hand, thus making one revolution an hour, if the ratchet Wheel contains but 60 teeth, and that the pawl is adapted to engage one ofthe teeth of the ratchet and thus carry the plate 26, around with the ratchet to contact with the contact abutment 40, of the clock, and thus establish a circuit to sound the alarm, the cam portion of the trip lever engaging the pawl just above the ratchet and the continued movement of the ratchet causing the pawl to ride upward on said shaped cam abutment until it is free of the ratchet, when the pin or stud is released from the ratchet the spring 41, secured at one end to the clock casing and the other end being secured to the extended arm 42, of the plate 26, will swing the pla-te back and down from the cam abutment 17 ,and the contact point 40, thus breaking the circuit and cutting oill the alarm, the trip lever being retained against improper movement by means of the abutment 44, carried by the clock, the abutment 11, of the arm 9, limiting the movement of the plate 26, in its downward course. When the coil spring 41, exerts its tension to return the plate 26, the pawl will be wedged between the abutment 11 and the wheel 12, and thus the stud 29, will beforced into engagement with the ratchet wheel 12, the poi the arms.

It will thus be seen that I provide a simple, inexpensive and durable device which may be readily applied to an ordinary clock by securing an extension on the minute hand arbor and which will be of the highest eiliciency and will positively operate at the terminal of each period of time without necessitating the resetting of the device, and which is particularly adapted for use in schools to denote the time to change classes, in shops where certain work requires attention only at stated intervals, permitting the workmen to be employed on other work between said intervals and be notified of the time to attend to their other work` or in kitchens to notify the cook when the desired number of minutes have elapsed for the cooking of certain articles, or my clock can be used in schools to sound the period of classes or recitations; in theaters to act as a call for the performers, and in fact, in any situation where a signal is desired at certain stated periods of time.

I claim:

l. The combination with the minute hand arbor of a clock, of a ratchet wheel mounted thereon to move therewith, a pawl bearing plate pivotally mounted on the arbor and carrying a pawl adapted to engage the ratchet, a trip lever mounted on the arbor and formed with an abutment adapted to enand release the pawl, and an extension formed on said trip lever, a trip rod connected at one end with said extension, and means consisting of a three-arm lever having a weight on one of its arms connected with said trip rod and operated extcriorly of the clock for causing the trip lever to prevent the movement of the pivotal plate when desired.

2. The combination with the minute hand arbor of a clock, of a ratchet wheel mounted thereon to move therewith, a pawl bearing plate pivotally mounted on the arbor and carrying a pawl adapted to engage the ratchet, a trip lever mounted on the arbor and formed with an abutment adapted to engage and release the pawl, an electric current associated with the clock mechanism, one leg of the circuit terminating at a contact point carried by the clock and the other leg terminating at the pivotal plate,an alarm mech` anism arranged on said circuit and actuated by the engagement of the plate with the contact point, a trip rod connected at one end of the trip lever and a three-arm lever carrying a weightv to return the trip rod and mechanism to normal position.v

3. The combination with the minute hand arbor of a clock, of a ratchet Wheel mounted thereon, a setting mechanism, a plate adapted to engage and be limited in its movement in one direction by the setting mechanism, a pivoted paWl carried by said plate, a Weighted arm, engaging said paWl, a trip mechanism adapted to be engaged by said paWl, an electric circuit associated With the clock mechanism and closed by contact of said paWl with a stationary Contact, a stationary contact, an alarm in said circuit, and means consisting of a three-arm lever carrying a Weight and having one arm con- 10 nected With the trip mechanism for returning the parts to normal position.

In testimony whereof I aHX my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

LEWIS D. GIDDENS. Witnesses:

F. D. SWINDELL, C. C. DANIEL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, '.D. G. 

